Quote

I shall proceed from the simple to the complex. But in war more than in any other subject we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole for here more than elsewhere the part and the whole must always be thought of together.

Carl von Clausewitz

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Carl von Clausewitz
Age: 51 †
Born: 1780
Born: June 1
Died: 1831
Died: November 16
Historian
Military Historian
Military Officer
Military Personnel
Military Theorist
Philosopher
Writer
Burg bei Magdeburg
Must
Looking
Proceed
Always
Simple
Elsewhere
War
Complexes
Nature
Complex
Thought
Subject
Part
Begin
Together
Subjects
Whole
Shall

More quotes by Carl von Clausewitz

Image
War is nothing but a duel on a larger scale.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
In war everything is simple, but it's the simple things that are difficult.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Tactics is the art of using troops in battle strategy is the art of using battles to win the war
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Obstinacy is a fault of temperament. Stubbornness and intolerance of contradiction result from a special kind of egotism, which elevates above everything else the pleasure of its autonomous intellect, to which others must bow.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
In 1793 such a force as no one had any conception of made its appearance. War had again suddenly become an affair of the people, and that of a people numbering thirty millions, every one of whom regarded himself as a citizen of the State... By this participation of the people in the war... a whole Nation with its natural weight came into the scale.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Knowing is different from doing and therefore theory must never be used as norms for a standard, but merely as aids to judgment.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty and chance.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Action in war is like movement in a resistant element. Just as the simplest and most natural of movements, walking, cannot easily be performed in water, so in war, it is difficult for normal efforts to achieve even moderate results.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
To be practical, any plan must take account of the enemy's power to frustrate it.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Modern wars are seldom fought without hatred between nations this serves more or less as a substitute for hatred between individuals.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Be audacious and cunning in your plans, firm and persevering in their execution, determined to find a glorious end.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of numerical superiority is quite distinct from numerical superiority in general: it is the most powerful medium in the art of war.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
The very nature of interactions is bound to make it unpredictable.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.
Carl von Clausewitz
Image
Architects and painters know precisely what they are about as long as they deal with material phenomena.... But when they come to the aesthetics of their work, when they aim at a particular effect on the mind or on the senses, the rules dissolve into nothing but vague ideas.
Carl von Clausewitz